


GARO And the Knights of Power

by PwiPwiPoo



Category: GARO (TV), She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Bisexual Glimmer (She-Ra), Blood and Gore, F/F, Fantasy, GARO references galore, Gender Dysphoria, Lesbian Disaster Adora (She-Ra), Lesbian Disaster Catra (She-Ra), Lots of Jargon, Mutual Longing, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Prior knowledge of GARO isn't necessary but definitely helps, Reader's Review: "These two (Catra and Adora) need to go to longing jail", Sassy Zaruba and Silva are sassy, She-Ra/GARO AU, Trans Catra (She-Ra), Trans Female Character, Transmisogynistic Comments, Transphobia, lots of death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-25
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:41:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26108116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PwiPwiPoo/pseuds/PwiPwiPoo
Summary: Adora and Catra have lived most of their lives in the care of the Senate, training to one day become Makai Priests and defend humanity from the constant threat of the demonic Horrors. But something happened that neither of them had expected; in the deepest, darkest part of the woods Adora found a sword, a legendary golden blade once thought lost many years ago. When she pulled it from its resting place, it set off a chain of events that would alter the course of these two women's destinies forever.
Relationships: Adora & Catra (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	1. Sword

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings for Transphobic comments in the second scene of this chapter
> 
> See end notes for glossary of terms and other stuff

Sheets of rain beat on the stained glass windows in the corridor, a flash of lighting briefly illuminating the darknesses with their beautiful color imagery. The Makai Priest on nightwatch rubs her hands together to generate a little bit of warmth in the cold corridor; she pulls out her madou brush, its ornate red and dark blue grip a stark contrast to the brilliant white bristles that glowed with an ethereal luminance, and draws a magic circle above her free hand. Glowing, arcane letters materialize in the air above her palm before dispersing into a tiny shower of gold sparks that warm her hands. 

As she’s rubbing in the sparks a loud rap on the door makes her jump in place, she crosses the distance and pulls back the bronze door handle. The ancient magical oak doors creak as they scrape along the marble floor, the young Priest looks out into the downpour as a streak of lighting illuminates the unexpected visitors; a tall woman, clad in exquisite robes of deep burgundy and darkest night with her face covered by a carved wooden mask whose ghost like eyes moved by magic, holding hands with a little girl, roughly 5 or 6 years old with dirt stained blonde hair and the most entrancing blue eyes the Priest has ever seen.

“Headmistress Shadow Weaver,” the young woman exclaims as she bows to the visitor. “I wasn’t aware that you were going to visit tonight. Who’s this child?”

Shadow Weaver looks down at the girl, the child staring blankly at her feet, “I found her in the Woods of Whispering Darkness a few hours ago while I was on patrol.” She transfer’s the little girl’s cold, wet hand to the other Priest, “Get her a change of clothes and something to eat. I will be back in the morning to check on her.”

“Yes headmistress,” the Priest bows again as Shadow Weaver disappears into the deluge. The Priest looks down at the child standing next to her, she bends down to eye level and offers her a warm smile. “Hello, my name is Juliet. What’s your name?” The little girl says nothing as she stares at her feet. 

Juliet notices more of the girl’s disheveled attire in the flickering lights of the corridor; her red t-shirt is ripped down the left side of her body, the front smeared with dried blood not from the girl. The knees of her grey sweatpants are mud stained with bits of leaf matter mixed in, the little girl shifts back and forth on her bare feet, mud caked and dripping. Juliet’s heart sinks thinking about what horrors this child witnessed out there in the woods.

The young Priest steps away from her train of thought to focus on the new ward in her care. She leads the little girl by the hand to the kitchens, the dim ceiling lights flickering in the storm. When they reach the kitchens, Juliet creates a ball of light at the tip of her brush and flicks it into the darkness, growing in size and illumination. As light fills the room, she catches a shadow duck under the table in the far corner. “Who’s there,” she calls out with her brush aimed in the intruder’s direction.

A small boy, the same age as the mystery girl, creeps out from under the table, his wild mane of long brown hair sticks out in all directions. His big amber and blue eyes stare back at Juliet like a surprised fawn, “Good evening Ms. Juliet.”

The brunette drops her brush and puts her hands on her hips, “Ray, what are you doing up? It’s way past your bedtime.”

“I was hungry and I came in here to get something to eat.”

Juliet sighs and shakes her head all the while smiling. “Well, that’s alright. Take a seat and keep her company, okay?” She helps Ray into one of the wooden chairs surrounding the square table before helping the blonde girl into one adjacent to him, “I’ll whip up some porridge real quick for you two.”

Ray watches Juliet as she gathers her ingredients and lights the stove for cooking. He turns away to look at the girl to his right, he moves his head closer to the table top to get a better look at the girl’s face. “What’s her name?”

“Don’t know,” Juliet answers as she pours an oat slurry into a large cooking pot, “Shadow Weaver just brought her in. Said she found her out in the woods.”

Ray whistles, the blonde girl turns slightly to look at him. “Hi, my name’s Ca- I mean, Raymond. What’s yours?”

The little girl blinks slowly as her mind begins to make sense of the other child’s request. “Adora…” her voice comes out, barely above a whisper.

Ray’s smile turns into a toothy grin, sans his two front teeth. “Ms. Juliet, her name’s Adora!”

Juliet writes a spell for the pot before leaving it to boil, whipping her hands on a pale green dish cloth as she walks over to the children. She bends down next to Adora, “That’s a beautiful name! Adora, do you know where your parents are? Do you have their phone numbers?”

Adora scrunches her nose as she tries to think, she clutches her head and clenches her eyes shut. “I-I don’t know. I have a mommy, but I can’t remember her. Why can’t I remember my mommy?” Her words dribble out as tears start to flow from her eyes, she grabs onto the lapel of Juliet’s brown robes and buries her face in them.

The woman pats Adora’s head as the little girl cries into her chest, “It’s okay sweetie, it’s okay. You’re in shock right now that’s why you can’t remember. But don’t worry, you’re safe here with us.”

Adora pulls back from Juliet’s robes, she rubs off the snot and tears on the back of her arm. “Where is here?”

Juliet smiles, “This is the Senate, the home of the Makai Order and the protectors of humanity. This is the safest place in the entire world. Welcome, Adora.”

* * *

The classroom door swings open for Shadow Weaver with a wave of her hand. She points at a piece of chalk and directs it to the black board, the chalk levitating off its resting place and beginning to write on the board. Shadow Weaver motions for the standing students to take their seats and stands in front of her desk, entwining her fingers at her waist.

“Good morning class, we will be having a guest join us for our lecture today. But before he arrives I want to have a brief review of the fundamentals. Now, who can tell me what the Makai Order is and what are its two primary divisions?” She looks out at the group of 13 year olds awaiting an answer, she catches a hand shooting up and points at its owner, “Yes Lonnie.”

A young girl with braids stands up from her seat, arms behind her back at attention. “The Makai Order is the protector of humanity against the constant threat of the Demon Beasts Horrors. It is made up of the Makai Knights and the Makai Priests, both of which are essential in finding and eliminating Horrors.”

“Very good, Lonnie, take your seat. Who can tell me what a Horror is? Be sure to explain how a Horror comes to be and how we are able to detect them.” She spies a shaky hand slowly raising up at the back of the room, “Yes Kyle.”

A nervous, skinny blonde boy stands on shaky legs. “A Horror-” his voice cracks, garnering a laugh from his classmates. Shadow Weaver clears her throat and the laughter dies out in an instant, she waves a hand for the boy to continue. “A Horror is a demon from the Makai realm, and they enter our world through Inga Gates, gateways created by collections of dark and evil emotions. We can detect Horrors with our madou tools, like the madou lighter! The flame triggers an allergic reaction in possessed humans, turning their eyes a different color and making Makai writing appear in the eye, I think. A-am I right ma’am?”

Shadow Weaver nods, “Yes Kyle, you are correct. You may be seated. Ah,” Shadow Weaver exclaims as a large man squeezes himself into the classroom, “our guest has arrived. Students let me introduce you to Grizzlor, Makai Knight and bearer of the title Godo, the Wild Mountain Knight. While we Priests do not use the same armaments as the Knights, it is important to have an understanding of their capabilities. Grizzlor, can you please summon your armor for us?”

The grizzled man grunts as he unsheathes his sword and lifts it high in the air, almost scraping the ceiling. As he rotates his wrist in a circle, a seam of otherworldly light trails behind the tip of his blade until it makes a full circle. The giant Knight pulls down the blade and the inside of the circle shatters, bathing him in a shower of pale white light. In a matter of seconds the light fades and Grizzlor is covered from head to toe in ornate bronze plate armor; the helmet has two long, ear like projects going up either side and a snarling wolf face with fierce brown eyes. Ancient Makai writing is etched along the seams and junction points of the spiky armor. His weapon changed from a simple straight bladed sword into a large, curved scimitar with runes etched into the blade and a blade the color of rust.

Shadow Weaver waves her hand at the armor, “This is makai armor. Forged from soul metal millenia ago, it is incredibly strong and durable against the attacks of Horrors and magic. Interestingly, the armor is malleable and can change its shape depending on certain circumstances. However, if it sustains too much damage it will disassemble to avoid being destroyed completely. It is also important to note that a Knight can only wear the armor for 99.9 seconds, after which they enter Lost Soul Beast form and will become hostile to friends and foes alike. The only way to cancel this form is to hit the core switch on the belt,” Shadow Weaver taps the crest on Grizzlor’s waist. “Remember this as it may very well save your life one day. You may take your leave, Grizzlor.”

The armor disassembles and disappears above the giant’s head in a flash of light. Grizzlor grunts at Shadow Weaver as he leaves the room, squeezing his large shoulders past the old wooden door frame.

“Let us move on to the next part of the Knights kit, the makai blade, which is forged from soul metal.” She scans the room for a volunteer and her eyes narrow on a messy haired brunette. “Raymond, can you please explain to the class the properties of soul metal?”

“That’s not her name,” came a voice next to Shadow Weaver.

She looks down into the intense blue eyes staring back at her, “What did you say, Adora?”

“That’s not her name, her name is Catra. Please remember to call her that, ma’am.”

Shadow Weaver’s ghostly white eyes narrow at the blonde. She sighs defeatedly and turns her attention back to Catra, “ _ Catra _ . Please explain the properties of soul metal.”

Catra stands out of her chair and glances at Adore out of the corner of her eye, mouthing a silent ‘thanks’ at her friend. “Soul metal responds to the wielder’s thoughts and spirit, it can be extremely light or infinitely heavy depending. It takes years to learn how to wield it properly, and if you aren’t trained it will destroy your flesh upon contact.”

“Good,” Shadow Weaver grumbles. Catra moves to sit back down but stops when Shadow Weaver slams her hand on the front of her desk. “Did I give you permission to sit yet?”

Catra looks away from the headmistress’ intense glare, “No ma’am. I’m sorry ma’am.”

“I’m glad you understand. Now before you take your seat, answer me this,” she asks as she glides over to Catra’s seat. The girl tenses up as the Priest circles her like a vulture, “Who are the only ones that can become Knights?”

Catra swallows, “Knight titles are inherited by blood or given by the title bearer. This also applies to untitled Knights who use the mass produced Hagane armor.”

Shadow Weaver chuckles. “That is only partly correct. Let me rephrase my question,” she leans close to Catra’s ear, “what is the only  _ gender _ that can become a Makai Knight?”

The girl grits her teeth before answering, “Only men can become Knights.”

Shadow Weaver’s eyes brighten up in a smug, victorious way. “Very good. Sit down.”

Catra lets go of a breath she was holding in as she descends into her wooden desk chair. She opens her eyes when she feels something soft hit her brow; she picks up the little ball of paper that appeared on her desk and reads it to herself.

_ Are you okay? You don’t look too good. _

_ -Adora _

She looks over at the blonde in the row ahead of her to her right. They lock eyes and Catra can tell from the worried look in Adora’s beautiful blue eyes that she was concerned. The brunette shoots her a lopsided grin and mouths ‘I’m fine’. Adora answers back with a half hearted smile, still obviously concerned about how upset she was; Catra crosses her fingers and offers a reassuring smile to her concerned friend. Adora relents and gives her an affirming nod, turning around to return her attention back to her classwork.

Catra sighs, her smile turning crestfallen as Shadow Weaver’s last question hangs on her mind.  _ Does she know? _ Catra asks herself.  _ She can’t, there’s no way.  _ Although Catra convinces herself everything is fine, a part of her still worries that Shadow Weaver somehow knows her secret, one that she hasn’t even told Adora.

* * *

“Ughh I’m bored!” Catra groans. “Can we go home now? We’ve been out here looking for those stupid mushroom for like 8 hours now, we’re never gonna find them.”

Adora rolls her eyes, “It’s only been like 30 minutes. Just give it some time, okay? Juliet said the Mozi mushrooms that grow in this forest make the best medicines. If we bring some back I’m sure Shadow Weaver will give us, like, extra credit for our assignments or something.”

“Heh, yeah you definitely need all the help you can get.”

Adora puts her hands on her hips and glares at Catra, “What do you mean by that? My grades are amazing!”

“Oh yeah, amazing,” Catra nods in agreement, “that is if you ignore your abysmal spell casting, lack of coordination, and your inability to even do simple alchemy.”

“Give me a break, that stuff’s hard,” Adora pouts. “I’m not as book smart as you are.”

Catra chuckles, “You can say that again. Hey, I’m gonna search over here. Why don’t you try that thicket over there?”

Adora looks over at the spot Catra is pointing out; a dense wall of shrubs and vines blocks off a darker part of the forest. She looks at Catra incredulously, “You want me to go into the deepest, darkest part of the woods by myself? With my shitty magic casting skills? Me?”

The brunette claps Adora’s shoulder, “Well if you get jumped by a Horror you can just punch it to death. I’m sure with your crazy strength you can pulverize it into dust.”

Adora pulls back the sleeve of her left arm and flexes the exposed bicep. “You know, I think you have a point there. I probably could just punch em- uh, you okay there?”

Catra stares enraptured at Adora’s impressive musculature, she snaps herself out of her trance when Adora’s comment registers in her brain. “Sorry I uh, spaced out. What were you saying?”

The blonde brushes it off, “Nothin’. Anyway I’ll go into the obvious death trap now, please start running if you hear me screaming,” she jokes as she walks towards the dark section of forest.

“Oh I will, just not in your direction.”

Adora turns around and blows a raspberry at her friend, she turns back and tries to part the foliage with her brush. Even though she is able to draw a magic circle, the magical light fizzles out as soon as her brush leaves the circle. With a defeated sigh she holsters the brush to her belt and brute forces her way through.

The path was a lot darker than she was expecting, it was starting to feel like the light was being choked out all around her. Her eyes dart around every corner, scanning every nook and cranny for both the mushrooms and any potential Horror attacks; after training to become a Makai Priest for 13 years and learning about all the horrible ways you can die to the Demon Beasts, she’s developed a healthy amount of paranoia and the good sense to always be alert. 

She hears a twig snap behind her and jumps around to face it, brush at the ready (more for show than as an actual threat), she waits completely still until a tiny baby boar walks out from behind the tree. She heaves a sigh of relief, she turns around and gets face to face with the skeleton-like face of a Horror.

She trips backwards and aims her brush at the monster, waving it around like mad trying to get it to do something. The monster bats it away, sending it flying off into the darkness. Adora looks into the gaping maw that was inching closer and closer to her, the boney antennae and little black wings twitching wildly and its bone plated tail swishes back and forth, kicking up leaves and twigs in its wake. Adora’s mind goes into overdrive and she delivers a right hook to the monster’s snarling face, sending it careening to her left.

“Holy shit, that actually worked!” Adora exclaims in utter amazement. Before she can congratulate herself more, the Horror begins to stir and revive itself. Adora takes this chance to run away from it as fast as she can, crashing through bushes and low hanging branches along the way. She can feel the beast’s rotten breath on the back of her neck, she doesn’t chance a look behind and keeps running, crashing through another bush into a clearing.

Adora listens for the Horror, letting out a sigh of relief when she doesn’t hear it. She starts to pick herself up when she’s slammed back down as something heavy lands on her back. Black claws flip her around to face dead white eyes, Adora makes a vain attempt to get one of the charms in her hip holster but the Horror pins her arms to the ground. As the monster’s saliva drips down onto her face and death is almost certain, a burst of blinding light chases away the darkness. The Horror cries out in pain as the light sears away its inky flesh, unable to take any more torment the monster jumps off Adora and scurries off into the woods.

Adora lifts herself off the ground, unsure of what just happened but thankful all the same. She looks around for the source of the light and spies a longsword in a golden scabbard sticking out of the ground, with gnarled tree roots snaking around it. Adora steps closer to inspect the weapon and notices a strange crest on the center of the quillons; a red triangle outlined in gold sitting inside a black circle. A strange, familiar feeling wells up inside her as she stares at the sword and an irresistible urge to touch it overtakes her.

Her hands wrap around the golden grip, the Soul Metal feeling warm in her palms. Although she wasn’t a Knight, she knew how to use and control a Makai blade, thanks to Shadow Weaver’s private lessons (which were very unorthodox for a Priest, now that she thinks about it). She tries to pull it out but the sword won’t budge, her incredible strength failing her at this moment. She takes her hands off the grip for a second to recenter herself, remembering the breathing exercises Shadow Weaver taught her to clear her mind.

Adora lays her hands gently on the handle again, she steadies her breathing and focuses on making the sword as light as a feather. She pulls the sword up slowly, the blade starting to give more and more as it slides out of its scabbard, stumbling backwards when the tip leaves the scabbard; she holds the sword high, its black blade with white arcane etchings entrancing her completely. Adora clutches the sides of her head in pain as images flash rapid fire in her mind; a golden Knight cutting down countless Horrors, a house in the woods with a white porch swing with peeling paint, a woman smiling at Adora, the majority of her face obscured by a ray of light.

Adora snaps back into reality, shaking her head as the pain in her head begins to fade. “What the hell was that?” she asks herself. She looks down at the sword in her hand, the brilliant gold hilt and black blade replaced by a simple straight sword with a bright red grip and the same triangle crest on the grip. She notices the scabbard changed as well, matching the red material of the sword’s hilt. Adora pulls out the scabbard and sheathes the blade, taking a moment to look at the sword in her hand once more before stuffing it into her bag, her instincts tell her to keep it hidden.

“Adora! Adora, where are you!?”

The blonde turns to the sound of the voice, “Catra? Catra! I’m over here!”

Front he opposite end of the clearing Catra pushes through the brush, her eyes grow wide when she sees Adora. The brunette runs up and throws her arms around the blonde, “Oh my god, Adora you’re safe!” Catra pulls away from the embrace, her eyes red and puffy, “I heard screaming and crashing, and also a Horror hissing and-and, oh fuck I was just so scared something happened to you. Thank god you’re okay.”

Adora wraps her arms around Catra and holds her against her chest, petting the brunette’s messy mane. “It’s okay Catra, I’m fine. I’m happy to see you’re okay too.” She pulls away to look down at her friend, producing a handkerchief and wiping away Catra’s tears. “Let’s go home. I think we’ve had enough excitement for one day.”

Catra flashes a toothy grin and takes Adora’s hand into her’s. She casts a spell that creates a large ball of green light that lights up their path. As Catra leads the pair out of the clearing, Adora looks back at the clearing as it disappears from sight as questions plague her mind; why was the sword just sitting there in the middle of the woods? What was up with those visions, and why did they feel so familiar? 

Adora sorts these and other questions into the back of her mind, focusing her attention on staying in the light and keeping a grip on the warm, soft hand holding her own.


	2. Knight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for transphobic slurs and tranmisogynistic comments.
> 
> Look at the end notes for Glossary

“May I have your attention,” Shadow Weaver addresses the group of idling students. “Today we are having a joint exercise with the Priest and Knight trainees. You will be working together in teams of four to defeat a Horror.” Shadow Weaver cuts the air with her brush and a Horror materializes from the floor, all the students gathered flinch as the monster stands next to the Head Master. Shadow Weaver places a hand on the Horror’s shoulder, “Do not fear, it is completely under our control. These restraints,” pointing to the metal coverings on its eyes and chest, “limit its powers to a degree that it will not be fatal if it strikes you.” 

“Now then, each one of you was given a crystal when you entered the training hall.” Shadow Weaver paints a spell in the air and a wave of multicolor light passes through the students, lighting their crystals in a variety of colors. “Find the other students that have the same color crystals, then proceed to the waiting area for further instructions.”

“Hey Adora,” Catra whispers into Adora’s ear from behind.

The blonde jumps around to face the brunette, “Shit Catra, you scared the crap out of me!”

Catra smiles, “Sorry about that. What’s with the bag?” Catra pulls at the shoulder bag hanging off of Adora, “You bring spare brushes or something?”

Adora pulls the bag out of her friend’s grasp, “Yeah, yeah, just some extra brushes. Never know when I might need some!” Adora rattles off a nervous laugh, making Catra raise a quizzical eyebrow.”So anyway, did you find your group yet? What’s your color?”

The brunette tosses her crystal up in the air and catches it when it reaches her face level, revealing its vibrant crimson color. “Red. What about you?”

Adora smiles and lifts her crystal up to Catra’s, its glow the same crimson red.

“Oh hey, you guys are red too!” The pair turn around to the two guys walking toward them, red crystals in their hands. The tall blonde waves at the girls, “Hey, I’m Therin and this is my buddy Davy. Looks like we’re all together on this one, nice to meet you.” Catra rolls her eyes and blows the guy off while Adora gives him a half hearted hello. Therin eyes Adora with a sleazy smile on his face, “So what’s your name, cutie pie?”

Adora shrinks back as Therin looms over her, he stops his advance when Catra inserts herself between the two. He looks down into the brunette’s murderous glare, “Her name’s Adora, and you better back off before I turn your dick inside out.”

Therin snorts, “Who are you, her boyfriend?”

Adora pushes Therin’s shoulder, “Hey don’t you fucking call her a guy.”

“ _ Her _ ?” Therin scrunches up his face as the gears turn in his head, his eyes lighting up when realization hits him. “Wait a minute, I know you. You’re that tranny everyone talks about!”

Adora grabs the bastard by his lapel and lifts him clean off the ground, “Say that again, asshole, I fucking dare you!”

Davy unsheathes his sword, threatening Adora’s neck with the tip. “Put him down.”

Catra has her brush at the back of Davy’s head. “Let’s all calm down now, shall we? Adora, drop the sack of shit.” The blonde looks at her like she’s asking for the impossible, she grits her teeth and lets go of Therin’s shirt, dropping the guy onto his ass. “Thanks Adora. Now Davy,” she shakes her brush slightly, the bells and charms on it jingling from the movement, “drop the blade.” Davy complies and returns his blade to its scabbard, Catra keeps her brush aimed at the two guys until she is standing side by side with Adora. “Let’s get one thing straight, we don’t want to work with you two but we don’t have a choice. So you just do your thing and we’ll do ours. Got it?”

“Yeah,” Therin growls, “loud and clear. Come on Davy.” The guys storm off in a huff, sneering at the girls as they disappear into the crowd.

Catra lets out a breath and drops her brush, she hooks it on her belt and turns her attention to Adora. “Are you okay?” Catra fusses with the stray strands of hair that fell in front of Adora’s face, “He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

Adora offers Catra a smile and pulls her friend’s hands away from her face, “I’m fine. But what about you? Are you okay?”

“What, just because he called me a tranny?” Catra snorts, “Dick shits like him don’t phase me, I’ve had worse.” Catra cracks her neck, “Anyway, let’s get this thing over with. Ready to go?” Catra offers her hand to Adora who accepts it with no hesitation. A small blush dust Catra’s cheeks as she leads her friend by the hand to the staging area, joining their temporary teammates. 

The first three teams are taken out in quick order, although the Horror is weakened it’s still formidable. Thankfully they don’t expect them to kill it, instead racking up points as they deliver damage to it. Before long it’s red teams turn to face off against the Demon Beast; Adora leaves her backpack next to the bench she was on before joining her team in the ring, Davy and Therin position themselves on either side of the monster while Catra and Adora hang in the back. Shadow Weaver raises her brush and strikes the bronze gong to her right, the limiters on the Horror glow a bright magenta as it stirs to life.

The two Knights launch their pincer attack, the Horror deflects Therin’s blade with its claw while batting Davy to the side with a whack of its tail. Catra draws a red magic circle that shoots bolts of blue lighting at the beast, the scoreboard floating above the arena going up as the monster screams in agony.

“Adora, now!” Adora draws a small green circle and thrusts her brush through it, sending a ball of green light hurtling into the monster’s face, bursting into a bright flash of light. “Your turn, sword boys.” Davy and Therin follow their orders and dig their blades into the Horror’s right thigh and the left side of its chest, black spurts of blood spewing from the wounds. “Yes,” Catra says as she pumps her fist. As she writes out her next spell, the lights in the room flicker on and off. Everyone in the training hall looks around, trying to figure out what was happening; when the lights go back to normal, Catra looks back to the Horror and discovers that it is gone.

“Where’d it go?” Therin asks the group. As if answering his question the Horror drops from the ceiling and lands in front of him, the magenta light now an angry crimson. The monster snarls at the frightened boy as it raises its arm, it swipes across Therin sending the upper half of his body flying into the spectators. The Horror raises its head to the ceiling and lets out an ear splitting screech.

Panic and chaos over take the room, all the students running around like scared chickens while the examiners try to ready spells to stop the rampaging Horror. The Horror spins on Davy and impales the young Knight on its tail, blood bubbling from his throat as he tries to scream for help. It opens its maw and Davy’s skin breaks down into streams of black particles, the particulate flowing into the mouth of the Horror until nothing is left of the young Knight.

The Horror twitches and spasms as blasts of energy and light smash into its body, its right wing grows three times in size and reflects the incoming projectiles back at the examiners. Shadow Weaver draws a quick spell that makes a shield around the examiners box. The Horror flaps its wings once before they go back to their original size, a smug look on its skeleton like face watching the Priests’ efforts blow up in their faces. It turns around and faces down Adora as the blonde tries to get people out.

“Adora behind you!” Catra calls out to her friend.

Adora begins to look over her shoulder as the Horror charges at her. She holds up her brush in front of her, creating a gossamer shield that the monster crashes into. The impact of the Horror crashing into her shield sends her flying backwards into the wall, she cries out in pain as she makes impact. The Horror redoubles its assault, pinning Adora between the stone wall and her shield, its claws racking against the magical barrier and taking off particles of light as its claws pass. 

Catra can see that Adora’s shield is failing, she aims her brush at the Horror but lowers it again, she can’t launch a spell without running the risk of hitting Adora. Tears stream down her face as she looks around the arena trying to come up with a solution.

Adora focuses her energies on her shield in a vain effort to bolster her defense. The Horror stabs through the shield, cutting Adora’s shoulder and forcing a cry of pain from her. The shield crumbles into sparkling dust as Adora crumbles to the floor, clutching her wound.

“ADORA!” Catra finds her determination, she throws down her brush and runs over to the abandoned Makai blades laying in the dirt. She snatches the two blades with little effort, her eyes grow wide as she sees the Horror lift one of its claws to deliver the final blow. Catra tightens her grip and makes a mad dash for the beast.

Adora looks up at the snarling beast towering above her, tears burn her eyes as she stares defeated as the monster brings its claw down on her. She shuts her eyes tight preparing for the end to come, every muscle in her body tensing for the blow. When she doesn’t feel the cold sting of death, she opens her eyes and stares wide eyed at the sight in front of her; a Knight, clad in silver armor with red accents, stands between her and the Horror. 

The Horror’s claw is caught between the two silver swords of the Knight, the Knight roars a battle cry and severs the Horror’s captured claw in one movement. The Horror jumps back, clutching at its bloody nub, howling and screeching in pain and fury. It lowers itself to flush with the ground, hissing as it circles the Knight; it jumps back and bounces off the arena wall, launching itself high into the air before coming down on the silver Knight. The Knight’s sword passes through the Horror up to the hilt, the monster squirms and squeals on the blade before getting decapitated by the other one. Its head hits the ground with a wet thud, crumbling into black dust along with its body and dissipating completely.

The Knight lowers their blades and turns to face Adora, their gold and blue eyes staring down at her before disassembling, leaving an out of breath Catra looking down at her best friend. She tosses the swords to the side and drops to her knees, pulling Adora close to her chest, “It’s okay, it’s okay I’m here.” She pulls back to look Adora in the eyes, she catches a runaway tear with her thumb and whisks it away. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” Catra swallows in a dry throat, “yeah I’m fine. Catra you… you saved me.”

Catra smiles past her tears, “Dummy, of course I would. I’d do anything for you.”

Adora feels a warmth in her chest as she gazes into Catra’s mismatched eyes, she moves her hand up to her friend’s face, staying her hand when she notices the crowd gathering around them.

“Did you see that?” “That was the Silver Fanged Knight!” “Silver Fanged Knight? You mean Zero?” “But wait I thought she was a girl, aren’t boys only able to be Knights?” “Bro she was born male, that’s why she can wear the armor.” “I didn’t see any tits on that thing, so definitely a dude’s armor.” “I knew he was a guy, this whole ‘trans’ thing was just an excuse to get into the girl’s dormitory. Fucking pervert.”

“Raymond.”

Catra freezes when she hears that name, turning over her shoulder she sees Shadow Weaver looming over her. She pushes away from Adora and stands at attention.

Shadow Weaver narrows her eyes at the cowering young woman, “I suspected you had inherited your father’s armor, you should have been forthright with this information.” The eyes of her mask smile, devoid of any joy or mirth, “But I am so proud of you for accepting your destiny. You will make a fine Knight, Raymond.”

Adora looks over at Catra, terror and despair written all over the brunette’s face. Adora jumps up and shouts at the crowd. “Shut up! Just shut up!”

Shadow Weaver shifts her shoulders, “Adora, what has gotten into you?”

“Me? What has gotten into all of you? Catra is not a guy! Just because she can wear armor doesn’t make her one.”

“Adora,” Shadow Weaver clutches Adora’s cheek in her hand, she lifts the blonde’s face to look her in the eyes. “You know that only men can become Knights. Do not encourage his delusions, just accept the reality of the situation.”

Adora pulls her face away from Shadow Weaver’s hand, “No! Women can be Knights too, Catra proves it! I can prove it.”

Shadow Weaver tilts her head, “You?”

Adora nods, she hops over the arena wall and grabs her bag from the bench, vaulting back over the wall to stand in front of Shadow Weaver. She reaches into her bag and pulls out the sword she found in the woods the other day.

Shadow Weaver’s eyes grow wide when she sees the sword, “That scabbard…”

Adora unsheathes the blade and lifts the point high into the air, she moves the sword in a circle like she had seen the other Knights do, cutting a circle of light where the tip passed. She brings down the sword and the center of the ring shatters, bathing Adora in a warm golden light. She stares down Shadow Weaver as golden armor flies out of the dimensional rift and covers her body, her intense blues eyes replaced by the cold cerulean pupils of a snarling wolf helm. 

“Oh my god, that armor...” “It’s Garo!” “The Golden Knight, Garo...” “I thought Garo disappeared, like, 20 years ago.” “How can she call the armor, she’s not not a guy!” “Dude! She’s the first female Knight!” “Well fuck me, never thought I’d see the day a girl would be a Knight!”

The golden armor disassembles and Adora stares down Shadow Weaver with a triumphant smirk. “Satisfied?”

Shadow Weaver turns away, obviously shaken by this sudden revelation; she collects herself and turns back to face Adora’s glare, matching it with one of her own. “I want you two in my office in 10 minutes. We have much to discuss.” Shadow Weaver turns on her heel, the hem of her robes rustling about her as she storms out of the arena. “And somebody clean up this mess!”

Adora drops her shoulders and sheathes her sword. She looks back at Catra and reaches out to put a hand on her shoulder, “Hey, are you okay?”

As her friend’s hand touches her shoulder, Catra swats it away. “I’m fine,” she snaps and glares at the blonde. Shame colors her face when she sees the hurt on Adora’s face, Catra curses under her breath; she tears herself away from Adora and heads off for the training hall’s exit, her hands balled into fists as she stomps off.

Adora clutches at her heart as a wave of pain crashes into it, confused and hurt at Catra’s reaction. She gathers her stuff and runs after her friend, stopping briefly to pick up Catra’s discarded brush.

* * *

Catra and Adora sit uncomfortably in the oak chairs of Shadow Weaver’s office, the headmistress staring down the pair from the opposite side of the desk. The headmistress drums her fingers next to Adora’s sword, the clack of her dark purple fingernails the only sound in the room.

“So, care to explain this?” Shadow Weaver pauses her drumming to point at the blade on her desk.

Adora wets her lips before answering, “I found it when we were picking mushrooms for dorm mother Juliet last week. It was in a grove in the Forest of Whispering Darkness.”

Shadow Weaver’s hand freezes at the mention of that place. “I see. Tell me what happened when you retrieved the sword.”

“Well,” Adora starts, “when I found it it didn’t look like this. It was like when I put on the armor back there, all gold and a lot bigger. I pulled it out of the ground and,” Adora pauses, a little voice at the back of her mind urging her not to say what she saw. She covers her hesitation with a cough, “And I turned away, because I thought I heard something, and when I looked back it turned into that. I stuffed it into my bag and took it back with me.”

Shadow Weaver hums, she shifts her eyes at Catra. “And you. When did you inherit your father’s armor?”

Catra shrugs, “About 5 years ago, a little after my thirteenth birthday. I didn’t ask to inherit the title but I guess just chose me on its own or something. I don’t really know.”

“Just as I had suspected. I was informed that a couple of the soul metal practice blades would go missing then miraculously reappear from the storehouse a few months ago. That was your doing, wasn’t it?”

Catra looks away from Shadow Weaver, casting her eyes to the marble floor. It was true that over the years she trained in secret, trying her best to imitate the forms and exercises she saw her father do as he trained in the backyard of her family’s old home. She never wanted to bear the title of Zero, much less be a Knight, but she has someone she wants to protect and deep down she knows that mastering the armor is the best way to do that. 

“Yes,” Catra answers without looking at Shadow Weaver, her voice a little above a whisper.

Shadow Weaver sighs and stands up, walking behind her chair to look out the large window looking over the courtyard. “You two are dismissed. Take the sword with you and return to the dormitories, I need to discuss this with the Senate.”

Catra and Adora stand up, careful not to have their chairs scrape the floor as they raise, and pad over to the large oak door behind them. They open the door and bow to the headmistress before leaving, shutting it behind them. Adora breathes a sigh of relief, “That was terrifying. Catra, are you ok- hey wait!” Adora calls out as her friend walks down the opposite end of the corridor. Adora catches up to her and grabs Catra’s wrist, stopping the brunette in her tracks, “Catra is something wrong? You wouldn’t look at me the entire time we were in her office and you looked really pissed back in the training hall. Was it something I said?”

Catra looks over her shoulder, “No, it was just.... It was just shock from everything that happened.” Catra cracks a lopsided grin, “Not everyday your best friend turns out to be one of the most powerful Knights in the Order.”

Adora returns the grin, “Hey, it was news to me too! I mean, I pick up a strange sword out in the middle of the woods, and the next thing I know I’m 8 foot tall and covered in gold!” Adora looks away bashfully. “But you were the real stand out today. You jumped in front of that Horror and protected me,” Adora blushes as she gives Catra a warm smile, “thanks for saving me.”

Catra turns away as an atomic blush burns her cheek, “Well, uh, it-it was nothing.”

Adora walks ahead of Catra, trying to get the brunette to look at her. When Catra looks away a shit eating grin spreads on Adora’s face, “You’re embarrassed~”

“No! I’m not embarrassed, I just don’t want to look at your dumb face.”

Adora laugh-snorts at Catra’s weak deflection, continuing to tease her best friend all the way to the dormitories. Catra stops abruptly, staring ahead of them with a serious expression. Adora looks over at a group of girls blocking the entrance to the girl’s dorms. “What’s going on?” she asks the blockade.

A red head with a side shave sneers at Catra, “We have come to the decision that Catra is no longer allowed in our dorms. The other girls and I do not feel comfortable sharing a dorm with  _ him _ .”

Adora removes her arm from Catra’s shoulder and towers over the redhead, burning holes through her with a murderous glare, “The fuck did you just say?”

Catra puts a hand on Adora’s shoulder, “Adora just leave it.”

Adora speaks to Catra without turning around, “No! I’m not just going to let them get away with this! Catra belongs here, Delora, you can’t keep her out.”

Delora scoffs, “You saw him today, he’s a Knight! And we all know only guys can be Knights. Ergo, he needs to leave.”

Adora crosses her arms, “What about me, huh? I’m a Knight, you gonna throw me out too?”

“Adora you’re different, we know you’re a girl-”

“Bull shit,” Adora interrupts Delora, “you don’t know dick about me. If she can’t stay here, then neither can I.”

“Adora!” The blonde turns to face Catra, righteous fury burning in her deep blue eyes. “Look it’s okay, I figured something like this would happen.” She gives her friend a reassuring smile, “You stay, I’ll see if Juliet can put me up somewhere else.”

Adora shakes her head, “No, Catra you have every right to be here! You’re a girl, you belong here-”

Catra puts a finger over Adora’s lips, silencing the blonde. “Just drop it, okay? For me?” Adora scrunches her face indignantly, finally nodding her agreement. Catra removes her finger and pats Adora’ shoulder, “Thanks. I’ll see you at dinner.” Catra gives the group of angry girls one last look before turning around and walking away, rubbing her face with the back of her sleeve without turning back.

* * *

Catra’s sigh cuts the darkness, she tosses and turns trying to get comfortable in her new bed; Juliet was able to put her up in a private room a few days ago as Shadow Weaver discusses with the other big wigs at the Senate about what to do with her and Adora. Catra looks over the side of her bed, half expecting to see Adora underneath her sprawled out in her bunk snoring. A little smile brightens her face at the thought; her reminiscing is cut short when she hears something stumble in the darkness. She reaches over to the nightstand out of instinct to grab her brush, cursing to herself when she remembers that she forgot to pick it up the other day.

“Who’s there?” she calls out to the darkness. “You better say something or I’m gonna start throwing shit at random.”

“Hold your fire, it’s just me!”

Catra turns on the lamp on the nightstand and looks back at the direction of the voice, she sees Adora in her night wear with her hands up in surrender. “Adora,” Catra yawns, “what are you doing here? It’s late.”

“I couldn’t sleep,” Adora answers back. She motions at the bed with her head, “Mind if I join you?”

Catra sighs and moves to the right side of the bed, patting the newly emptied spot on her bed. Adora grins and hops on the bed, burying herself underneath the covers. Catra looks down at her with an amused look, “Comfy?” Adora nods, the covers pulled up to her nose. Catra smiles and turns off the light, settling back into bed. She turns over and meets Adora’s blue eyes staring back at her. “Hi.”

“Hi. How you been?”

Catra shrugs, “Not bad, feels weird being in here by myself.”

Adora chuckles. “Yeah. Doesn’t feel right, you know, not having you on top of me every night.” Catra shoots her a suggestive smirk making Adora blush, “I didn’t mean it like that! Like sleeping in the bunk above me, you dork.”

Catra laughs as Adora pouts under the covers, “Yeah, whatever. Totally not a Freudian slip.” Adora playful kicks Catra’s shin, eliciting another high pitched laugh from the brunette. “Hey, lighten up okay? Even if you're pulling your punches, you still hit like a mule.”

“Oh shit, sorry,” Adora frets, “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

Catra shakes her head, “Nah, you’re good.” Adora smiles and Catra smiles back, gazing into each other’s eyes for a brief moment before realization hits them. They turn away, both blushing profusely at the unintentionally intimate moment. “Sorry about that,” Catra apologies.

“No no no, you’re fine! It’s all good.”

“Good, good.” A blanket of awkward silence falls over the pair, Catra makes to speak but Adora beats her to it.

“What do you think they’re gonna do to us? You know, the Senate.”

Catra exhales out of her nose, “Don’t know. Probably send us to Kantai for Knight training or something. Then again, we’re both a bit old to be learning the ropes with a bunch of ankle biters.”

“Yeah,” Adora answers back. She peaks over her shoulder at Catra, her gaze hanging on the brunette’s back as a familiar desire wells up in her. She fortifies her resolve and flips over, hesitating before slipping her arms around her friend. She stops when she feels Catra tense up, “I’m sorry, I’ll stop now-”

“Don’t stop.”

Adora looks at her friend wide eyed, utterly amazed that she isn’t stopping her; they used to cuddle a lot when they were little, but as they got older it started to get awkward, so much so they stopped entirely. Adora takes a breath and continues to wrap her arms around Catra’s waist, pulling the brunette closer until her back is flush with her front. She bends her face down into Catra’s hair, breathing in the smell of lavender and honey. 

“Comfy?” Adora asks the girl in her arms, Catra nods and Adora pulls her in closer. Before long the two drift off into restful slumber, Catra’s hand laying gently over Adora’s.

* * *

Catra and Adora stand at attention in the main hall of the Senate. After a week of deliberations the Senate finally came to a decision and asked the two to come to the hall to receive the verdict. The Senate Watchdog Hecuba, a powerful Makai Priest who became immortal centuries ago, stands on a dias floating above the chasm in front of the girls. The elderly woman smiles down at the two. “Catra d’Leon and Adora Wilhelm, thank you for coming today.” The two women bow low to the elderly woman. 

“After much discussion, the Senate has come to the decision to train you two as Makai Knights. Unfortunately we will not be able to enroll you in the Knight program due to your age, but we believe we have found a suitable alternative. Each of you will be assigned a district to protect, you will receive training and support from the District Watchdogs and the Makai Priests of those districts.” The ethereal woman turns to Adora, “Adora, you will be assigned the Bright Moon District. Currently there is a Knight stationed there who will serve as your mentor and two young Priests to support you.” Adora turns to Catra with a giddy smile, over the moon with her assignment. 

“Catra, you will be assigned the Fright Zone District. Unfortunately there is not a Knight in that district that can mentor you, and we are too spread thin to spare anyone for the task.” Hecuba smiles down at the brunette, “But do not lose hope, the District Watchdog has overseen the training of many a Knight, and the two Priests that work under him are also very experienced. You will be in good hands.” Catra clicks her tongue, a little annoyed at being slighted like this, but she pushes those feelings down and thanks the Watchdog.

Hecuba claps and two attendants appear from both sides of the room, each carrying a bundle in their arms. “We will also provide you with the following tools to assist you in your endeavours. Each of you will receive a madou lighter for detecting Horrors and mahoi, special clothes imbued with magic to protect you and identify you as Makai Knights.” 

Adora takes her lighter and clicks the wheel, a bright green flame dances in front of her. She pockets the lighter and takes the duster from the attendant’s arms; a brilliant white coat with gold embroidery on the coattails, the lining is a vibrant red that feels warm to the touch. She puts on the coat and marvels at how comfortable it is, obviously tailor made to fit her perfectly. She looks over at Catra and her breath catches when she sees her friend in her duster; a similar design to hers except all black with a dark blue lining and deep crimson embroidery. Catra catches her staring and flashes her a smug, toothy grin. Adora looks away, her cheeks burning hot with embarrassment.

“Lastly,” the Watchdog speaks again, “each of you will be given a Madougu, a piece of madou jewelry who will assist you in your duties. These Madougu have been in the service of the Garo and Zero lines for centuries, their knowledge and wisdom will prove invaluable to you.”

The attendant holds out a ring to Adora, she picks it up and puts it on her finger. She holds it up to her face to get a better look at it; the facial features of the silver skull are incredibly detailed, with long canines and blood red jewels set in its eyes. As she’s admiring its expert craftsmanship, its eyelids blink with a metal click as it opens its mouth with a big yawn. Adora yelps, “Shit, it moved!”

“Of course I can move,” the ring answers, “why wouldn’t I? So this is the new Garo, eh? Heh, I’ve seen better.” The ring scrunches up his face, “At least I think I have. Anyway, I’m Zaruba. Nice to meet you, uh-”

“Oh, I’m Adora. Nice to meet you too.”

“Adora. Hmm, that name sounds familiar. Have we met before?”

Adora shakes her head, “No but you do look familiar.”

“Strange, but I guess it doesn’t matter. Anyway, good to be working with you Adora.”

Catra takes the necklace her attendant presents to her, turning her hand over to look at it; attached to the simple silver chain is a piece of jewelry shaped like a woman’s head, covered by a wolf mask that leaves the lower half of the face exposed. Catra smiles down at the necklace, “Long time no see, Silva.”

The necklace blinks as it comes to life, its sapphire eyes growing wide as it gasps at the sigh of Catra. “Ray! It’s wonderful to see you again! But you look… different. More womanly. I guess a lot has changed in the last 13 years.”

Catra chuckles, “Sure has. Listen, that name really doesn’t fit me any more. Just call me Catra, ‘k?”

Silva smiles, “Catra, that’s a beautiful name. And fitting for such a stunning young woman.”

“Oh stop, you’re gonna make me blush.” Silva giggles and sticks out her tongue, Catra smiles back and puts the necklace around her neck. She takes the twin black swords from the attendant’s hands, her heart tightening up as she stares at the familiar black scabbards.

“Those were your father’s swords,” Hecuba speaks up as if reading Catra’s mind, “he would be proud to see you wielding them now.” Catra looks up at her and nods, holstering the blades at her sides under her coat. The old Watchdog claps her hands and opens them up toward the two Knights, “You are the Wolves who stalk the night, protecting humanity from the threat of Horrors. You are our greatest line of defense, but remember that you are not alone in this fight! Work together to bring hope to humanity and cut down the shadows!”

* * *

“Oh my babies are leaving the nest!” Catra and Adora groan as Juliet crushes them in a giant bear hug. She puts them down and smiles fondly at the pair, “Feels like only yesterday I was catching you two raiding the kitchens at night.”

Adora laughs, “Hey it’s been ages since we did that! Thanks for everything, Juliet. I never told you this but, I’ve always considered you the mom I never knew. Thank you for taking care of me.”

“Same here,” Catra joins in. “When I was brought here after my dad died you were the first person to treat me with real kindness. And you even accepted me when I came out,” Catra sniffles, “so thanks for, you know, being so good to me. To us.”

Juliet can’t hold back the tears welling up in her eyes, she starts bawling and scoops up the girls for another back breaking hug. “You don’t know how happy that makes me to hear you two say that. I’m so proud of you both.”

“Well,” Catra groans, “I can definitely imagine. Um, think you let up on the motherly love for a second?”

“Oh yes, sorry.” She drops Catra and Adora and steps back with an embarrassed laugh, “Got carried away again. Do you two have everything you need?”

“Adora’s all good,” Zaruba answers. “I double checked her bag before we left the dorms. Hey Adora, don’t forget about the brush.”

Adora’s eyes shoot wide open, “Oh shit, thanks for reminding me!” She digs in her bag and pulls out the madou brush in question. “Here,” she holds out the brush to Catra, “I picked up your brush back in the training hall. Sorry I forgot to give it back.”

Catra takes the brush and holds it in her hand, the crude wooden charms that hang off the end of the shaft clank together as she inspects it. She removes the charms off the end and attaches them to the breast of her coat, tossing the naked brush back to Adora. “You keep it, all I need are these,” she flicks the charms and flashes Adora a crooked smile.

The blonde looks down at the brush in her hand, she rubs her thumb along a worn spot in the red painted bone shaft. She reminisces about the day they got their brushes; they were about 9 years old when they were taken to the storehouse to pick out the madou brush they would use for the rest of their lives. Adora chose a white one with a thick shaft and knobbly end (which she found out later was really good for hitting stuff), and Catra nabbed a shiny red one with gold etchings and a sleek profile. Adora thought Catra’s brush needed a little extra something so she spent the rest of the day cobbling together the charms now hanging over Catra’s heart; Catra was so touched she whipped up a set of charms for Adora’s brush, which made Adora blubber like a baby.

Adora stashes away the brush and pulls out her’s, taking off the charms and chucking the rest at her friend. She ties the threads to the ring hanging off the left breast of her duster, “Now we match!”

Catra can feel her heart melt at Adora’s radiant smile, she catches Juliet giving her a knowing grin out of the corner of her eye. She coughs in her hand in an attempt to hide her blush, “Well, uhm, guess we should get going.” She turns to the dorm mother and gives her a final goodbye hug, “Bye Juliet.”

Adora jumps into the hug as well, “We’re really gonna miss you.”

Juliet drapes her arms around the two young women, her tears falling into Catra’s hair below her. “I’m missing you two already,” she laughs. Juliet untagles herself from the group hug and gives each of them a motherly peck on the cheek. “Be strong my young Knights, and be brave. I love you both.” 

The pair reciprocate the declaration of affection and wave goodbye as they leave the dorms. Before they realize it the duo are standing before a large obelisk in the center of the courtyard with an array of thick stone slabs encircling it. Adora stops in front of one with a crescent moon engraving at the top. “Zaruba, is this the…” Adora snaps her fingers as she tries to think of the word, “thing we need to use?”

“If by thing, you mean Makai Path then yes, this is the thing. Have either of you ever used one of these before?” The two women shake their heads, “Well there’s not much to it, just hold me up to it and I’ll do the rest. We’ll be in Bright Moon before you know it.”

Adora looks at the slab in front of her, she holds Zaruba up and a doorway of swirling, dark purple energy opens up in the rock. Adora looks back at Catra as the Path undulates behind her, “Well, guess this is goodbye for now. Call me when you get to your district, okay?”

Catra holds up her hand and crosses her index and middle fingers, “Promise.” Adora crosses the distance between them and pulls Catra into her chest, her fingers gripping tight to Catra’s sides. The brunette recovers from the sudden hug and wraps her arms around the towering blonde. “Take care Adora.”

Adora pulls back to look at Catra face to face, her fingers linger on either side of the brunette’s ribs. The blonde hums her confirmation as she loses herself in Catra’s blue and amber pools. Zaruba clears his non-existent throat, breaking the spell bewitching Adora. “Right, yes! Gotta go to my district now,” she removes herself from Catra’s space and hurriedly steps through the threshold of the Makai Path. She turns back, giving Catra one last sad smile before the doorway fizzles out of existence.

Catra bites her lower lip, her mismatched eyes transfixed on the cold slab of rock before her. 

“Catra,” Silva gently beckons the Knight, “we should be going too.”

“Right, right uhm, sorry about that.”

Silva smiles, “Don’t be. It’s hard to see off the people you care about. You’ll see her again soon. And who knows, maybe she’ll greet you with a kiss at that time.”

“Silva!” Catra squeaks, her face turning a brilliant shade of red that would make a tomato jealous.

The madou necklace chuckles, “I’m joking. She’s too chicken to do that.” Catra removes Silva and spins the chunk of enchanted metal around to face her; she glares daggers at the cheeky Madougu, trying her damndest to be intimidating. However the effect is lost on Silva as she just smirks and sticks her tongue out at the flustered young woman.

“Whatever,” Catra huffs, earning a giggle from her metallic companion. She stomps over to the menhir opposite the one Adora disappeared into and stands before it, a silhouette of a bat-like creature with its wings spread carved into the top. She holds out Silva to the stone slab and a dimensional rift tears at the face of the stone, creating a doorway to the Makai Path. Catra breathes in deep, taking in the smells she has grown accustomed to over the last 13 years, and lets it all go in one, slow, exhale. She plants her left foot firmly across the threshold and steps onto the Makai Path, not turning around to catch the setting sun crest the ancient spires of the Senate.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am having a lot of fun playing around with the sexist "only men can become Knights" rule that is prevalent in the show. Like they don't even give a reason for it it just is. Well fuck that, I'm gonna make that shit come crashing down! Thanks again for reading!
> 
> Glossary:
> 
> Watchdog: These immortal beings serve as the mission givers for the Makai Knights, they also serve as administrators in the Order. Many of them are powerful Makai Priests who became immortal centuries ago.
> 
> Madougu: Literally magic tools, these are a group of mystical objects that assist Knights in their duties. No two Madougu are alike, however they all share certain traits that make them invaluable assets to the Knights, such as Horror detection and fonts of wisdom and knowledge. Their personalities are also very diverse, but they are all pretty damn sassy.
> 
> Makai Path: The Order's fast travel system, basically a worm hole connecting two points in space for ease of transport.


	3. First Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW// Body horror, blood and gore, and teeth

Adora steps out of the Makai Path, her shoes clack on the marble floor of the dimly lit room; she looks back as the Path fizzles out of existence. “Hello?” she calls out to the empty room, answered only by her own echo. Before she can question Zaruba about their current whereabouts, she notices something at the far end of the room; a pile of large, mauve feathers sparkling in a shower of crisp, white light.

The young Knight keeps her hand on her sword as she approaches the object, her eyes scanning the shadows for potential ambushes. Her foot clacks one more time before she halts her advance, now within arms reach of the object which she can see much more clearly; it was less of a pile and more like wings, large, bird like wings whose feathers were a light pink with translucent down that gave it its sparkle. 

As she reaches out an exploratory hand out to touch the wings, they open up without warning knocking Adora offer her feet. She recovers her stance and makes ready to draw her sword but stops as she gazes at the sight before her, awestruck. A tall woman with long pink and purple hair flowing down her slender shoulders, her dark violet eyes holding Adora in place with their hypnotic beauty. The stranger spreads her wings out with a soft flap, sparkling crystal down falls gracefully to the floor like dandelion seeds.

“Are you the one who has inherited the mantle of Garo?” the angelic being speaks, her voice reverberating in Adora’s ears and mind.

“Uhm yes ma’am,” Adora hastily replies, bowing her head low to the ground. “Are you the Bright Moon Watchdog?”

The Watchdog’s lilac lips curve up into a serene smile, “I am. You may call me Angella.”

Adora lifts her head, a goofy smile spreading over her face as a slight blush dusts her cheeks. “Oh, uh, okay. Hi there, haha. Uh,” Adora stutters as she looks around the room, “isn’t there supposed to be another Knight here?”

“Right behind you, kiddo.” Adora spins around as a man in a dark purple coat steps out of the shadows.

“Adora let me introduce Micah, bearer of the title King, the Mage Knight.”

Micah nods to Adora with a welcoming grin as he walks over to stand next to Angella. “Nice to meet you Adora! Angie already brought me up to speed on everything, been a long time since I had a disciple. But I’ll do my best to teach you the ropes.”

“Micah!” Angella scolds the Knight, her cheeks burning a deep violet, “Don’t be so informal with me in front of the new Knight, it sets a bad precedent! We need to show her that the Knights and Priests of the Bright Moon District are respectable, upstanding, serious-”

“Moooom, can I get a bazooka?” a disembodied voice rings out in the chamber.

Angella pinches the bridge of her nose and sighs, “And now all of that goes out the window.” 

A cloud of sparkles and dust gathers next to the Watchdog, forming a dense cluster before dissipating, replaced by a young woman with the same hair and eye color as Angella. “Oh there you are,” the young woman perks up at the sight of Angella, “can we get a makai bazooka? Pleeeeeease?”

“Glimmah, why do you need a bazooka? You haven’t even mastered your brush yet.”

“Uh, for fighting the stronger Horrors,” Glimmer answers her mother as if it was obvious. “Don’t get me wrong, dad’s super strong and all, but even he can’t take on the really big ones by himself. No offense dad.”

“None taken, sweetie,” Micah replies.

Glimmer looks up at her mother, her eyes wide and pleading like a hungry puppy. Angella crosses her arms in front of her chest with a stern look, “Glimmah, I said no.”

“Okay, so we can’t do the bazooka. How about a minigun?”

“No.”

“Shotgun?”

_ “No.” _

“Sniper rifle?”

_ “Glimmah!” _

Glimmer rolls her eyes, “Ugh fine, we don’t need new tools! Sheesh.” She glances away from her mother and does a double take when she notices Adora. “Who’s this?”

“Glimmah, this Adora. She has been assigned to our district to study under your father.”

Glimmer squints at Adora, her eyes bug out as realization slaps her in the face, “Ah! You’re the girl Knight everyone’s been talking about!”

Adora narrows her eyes at the pink haired girl, “Yeah, that’s me. Mind if we just drop the adjective? I’d rather my Knightness  _ not _ be defined by my gender.”

Glimmer shrugs, “Fair enough, good to meet you. Oh you should meet Bow! Uh,” Glimmer looks around the room, “where is he, by the way?”

Light fills the room as two large wooden doors burst open behind Adora, they close again as a young Priest runs into the room, panting and sweating profusely. “Glimmer,” the Priest pants, “why- _ huff _ -did you blink off like that- _ huff _ \- You could have at least taken me with you!” He catches his second wind and jogs up to Angella’s platform, leaning over his wobbly knees as he drinks in large gulps of air. “Oh, hello Mrs. Angella, ma’am. And Mr. Micah, sir. And, uh,” he raises an eyebrow when his attention falls on Adora, “who might you be?”

“I’m Adora, I’m the new Knight.”

Bow gives the blonde a tired wave, “Nice to meet you Adora. Woooh, I need some water,” Bow pants out. Micah pulls out a water bottle from one of his coat pockets and chucks it at Bow, the young priest graciously accepts and chugs it down, giving little thought to the water dribbling down his face.

“Well now you have met everyone,” Angella sighs. “Micah, can you please take her on patrol today? We can start her with sealing Inga Gates.”

Micah winks at his wife, “You got it honey. Let’s go Adora,” Micah claps an arm around the blonde’s shoulder, “I’ll show you how to close Gates in style.” Micah leads Adora over to the wall to their right, he holds up the ornate bracelet on his right arm up to the wall and a Path opens up. “Bye honey, I love you!” Micah blows a kiss at Angella as the Path closes behind him and his new pupil.

Angella covers her face with her hand, trying her best to hide the lavender blush and silly smile creeping onto her face.

* * *

Catra steps out of the Makai Path into a bar, completely devoid of people save for the red eyed bartender on the opposite end of the room. As she’s looking around, a large cardboard box blind sides her.

A white haired woman pokes her head around the box in her hand, panicking she tosses the box into the nearest booth and frets over the young Knight. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry I didn’t even see you! Are you okay? I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

Catra shakes her head, “Nah, you’re good. Uh, is this the Fright Zone District?”

The white haired giant nods enthusiastically, her worried frown quickly turning upside down, “Yeppers! Oh, you must be our new Knight! Catra, right?” Catra nods in confirmation. “Cool! It’s wonderful to meet you! My name’s Scorpia, I’m one of the Priests assigned to this district.”

Before Catra can reply the burly Priest sweeps her up into a hug, eliciting a surprised yelp from the smaller woman. “What the hell!?”

“Word of warning, I’m a hugger,” Scorpia’s arms squeeze around Catra’s sides, her vice like grip squeezing the life out of the squirming Knight. Catra starts smacking Scorpia’s exposed bicep until the buff Priest gets the message. “Whoops, sorry about that,” Scorpia let’s Catra down, “Don’t know my own strength at times. Oh, I bet you would like to see Hordak right about now, he’s our District Watchdog. Hey Hordak, the new Knight is here!”

Hordak turns away from cleaning the glassware as Scorpia pads up to the bar pushing Catra in front of her. The red eyed man looks the lithe brunette up and down, his face cold and unchanging. “So this is the new heir to the title of Zero,” Hordak sighs as he combs a hand through his tuft of jet black hair, “first the father, now the daughter. Why does the Senate keep sending me Zeros?”

“Wait, you knew my dad?”

“Oh yes, he was assigned here for a few years until you were born. He was a good man, and a good Knight. I expect you to be at least as capable as he was.”

Catra casts her eyes down at the redwood bar top, “I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to fill his shoes.” She looks up to stare Hordak in the eye, a playful, lopsided smirk crossing her lips, “But I’m not just gonna sit around on my ass like one of your bar flies.”

Hordak returns the smirk, “Good. I expect everyone to pull their weight.”

Just then the bar doors burst open as a small metallic, boxed shaped dragon automaton skitters in, its spindly metal feet clicking on the tile floor as it dives under one of the tables. A woman with long purple twintails in a stained dark purple robe follows behind a few seconds later. She scans the room with a hand above her eyes, her twin tails planting themselves firmly on the tile floor as the short woman simultaneously crosses her legs underneath herself; the hair lowers her down to floor level, the short Priest still scanning the room as her elevation drops, until her eyes light up when she catches the little box dragon. 

“Found you Emily!” The little robot spins around to face the Priest, her feet scrape the floor as she forcefully wags her back side excitedly. The purple haired Priest produces an audio recorder from her front pocket with one of her hair strands, “Goryu Version 2.0 Emily field test, day 103. Emily was able to successfully evade me for 25.3 minutes, over 1.6 minutes longer than our last test. We are ready to move onto field testing the prototype cloaking device-”

“Ahem,” Hordak loudly clears his throat.

The purple haired Priest pokes her head out from under the table, her bright purple eyes light up when she sees the Watchdog, “Hi Hordak! Emily’s most recent round of testing looks very promising, with a few more tests I believe I will have enough data to implement an upgrade for the First Gen Goryus!”

“Well done Entrapta. If you can spare us a moment, I want to introduce you to someone.” Entrapta’s hair lifts her off the ground to stand on her feet, she squeezes past the tables and chairs and hops into the bar stool next to Catra, spinning around in her chair as she listens. “Entrapta, this is Catra. She will be working with us starting today.”

Entrapta stops her spinning and turns herself to face Catra, “You’re the new Zero everyone is talking about! Fascinating, in my research on Makai Knights I have never come across a female Knight before!” Entrapta’s hair tendrils pull out a pen and notepad from her side pockets, “So when did you get your armor? Did you have to complete a trial for it or did you just inherit it? Is it true that you’re transgender? Is that why you’re able to inherit an armor despite being a woman?”

Entrapta’s barrage of questions halts as she catches Scorpia signalling her to stop talking from behind Catra. The purple haired Priest returns her notepad to its space in her robe pocket, “Oh, I said something I shouldn’t have, didn’t I?”

Catra shrugs, “Yeah, but it’s fine. You didn’t know any better.” Catra’s eyes bug out, “Wait a minute, Entrapta? Like Entrapta Wei? The inventor of the Goryu,  _ that _ Entrapta Wei?”

“Oh, you’ve heard of me?”

“How could I not? I mean, your inventions have changed the game, you’ve given Priests an effective means at fighting Horrors by themselves. You’re a genius!”

“D’aww, thank you. That makes me happy to hear you say that. If you like I can show you the upgrades I’ve made to Emily,” Entrapta reaches down to scratch the Goryu in question behind her ear. “She was the first prototype, and every time I need to test an upgrade I ask her to be my test subject.”

“That is all fine and good,” Hordak interrupts, “however, that will have to wait. Right now I need all of you on the streets, there has been an increase in Gates as of late and I have confirmed a group of Horrors has taken up residence in Greenvale Park. If left to their own devices they will inevitably expand their territory and begin hunting in the city proper. Find them and cut them down,” Hordak turns his red eyes to Catra, “think you can do that, Zero?”

Catra smirks, “Gotta admit, that’s a pretty tall order for my first day. But with these two backing me up,” she looks at Scorpia then Entrapta, “we got this.”

“You’re confident. Good, but don’t let that confidence go to your head. I’d rather not have to report to the Senate that you were killed on your first mission. You three are dismissed. Now get out of here before customers arrive, I don’t need freeloaders taking up valuable bar space.”

Catra pushes away from the bar and turns to address her new partners, “You guys ready?” Scorpia pulls out her brush and puts it in the center of the trio, Entrapta follows suit with her double bristled brush and Emily even puts in one of her spindly legs. Catra unsheathes one of her swords and lays the blade on the top, “Alright, let’s go fuck up some Horrors!”

* * *

Adora’s sword thrusts into the park bench’s shadow, an ear splitting cry blares as the shadow ripples and squirms around the tip of her blade. She lifts her sword in the air, dragging the shadow mass as it forms a ball, tendrils of makai writing lashing out at the air in anger; she pulls the tip of the blade out of the shadow ball and sundering it in two, the two halves screeching and hissing as they dissipate into nothingness.

Adora wipes the back of her sleeve across her forehead, she feels something soft and fluffy poke her cheek and turns to see Micha offering her a towel. She graciously accepts it, toweling off the sweat on her brow, “Thanks. How many Gates are we up to so far?”

“By my count, twelve.” Micah lifts his right arm close to his face, “Goruba, how’s Bow and Glimmer doing?”

The silver boar skull bracelet blinks its singular garnet eye, “They’ve taken care of about half of the Gates on their patrol. Looks like the youngins are showing you up, Micha. You’re losing your edge.”

Micah chuckles, “Well we can’t have that, can we? Adora, ready to go?”

“Uh sure,” the blonde replies as she sheathes her sword. She runs up to Micah as the older Knight waits patiently on the concrete walkway. “Hey,” Adora starts sheepishly, “can I ask you something?”

“Sure, what’s on your mind?”

“Okay, so back at the Castle, you called Angella your wife. And Glimmer called her mom and you dad, so does that mean you two, you know,” Adora leans in to whisper in her mentor’s ear, “did the deed?”

Micah stops, he stares at Adora emotionless for a second before belting out a large belly laugh that draws the attention of all the passerby. Adora hikes up the lapel of her coat, wishing desperately to disappear before she dies of embarrassment. 

“Oh boy, I haven’t laughed like that in ages! But to answer your question, yes, we did have sex. And we still do. I mean, we might be getting on with age but we still enjoy a roll in the hay every now and then. But let me tell you, the Senate was not happy when they found out we got together.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. It’s pretty common for Knights to marry Priests, but a Watchdog? It was unheard of! Also the whole ‘she’s an immortal administrator in the service of the Makai Order’ thing made people scrutinize the dynamics of our relationship. But I love her with all my heart, and I didn’t want to spend a minute of my life without her in it.”

“That’s really sweet,” Adora says, “makes me wish I had something like that. Like in terms of a relationship, I mean.”

Micah ruffles Adora’s hair, messing up her hair poof and ponytail. “If that’s what you really want, then I’m sure you’ll find it someday. Speaking of, got anybody in mind that might fit the bill?”

“Doubtful,” Zaruba answers, “I doubt she’d have time to look for anyone when all she does is stare at her childhood friend. I’ve known her for less than a day, and even I can see that she’s obsessed with that Knight.”

“Zaruba!” Adora reprimands the chatty ring, her cheeks burning crimson.

Micah guffaws, “Well if you are looking, how about Bow? He’s a sweet boy and very compassionate, he’s definitely great boyfriend material.”

Adora grimaces, “No offense to him, but I think I’ll pass. Not into dudes.”

“Oh,” Micah gasps, “well in that case, how about Glimmer? I know for a fact she’s bi, so I’m sure you’d have a shot with her.”

Adora stamers out a stream of incoherent babble, broken words and phrases jumbling together as her blush goes into overdrive. “I think we are getting  _ way _ off topic here! Let’s just get back to closing those Gates!” The blonde runs off ahead of Micah, still arguing with Zaruba as he makes fun of her for her obvious embarrassment. The old Knight shakes with a big belly laugh at the sight, he catches up with the pair and joins in on the good natured ribbing.

* * *

Scorpia crashes through the wall of an old wood cabin, splinters and chunks of rotted oak spew in her wake. She lands in a mushy pile of mulch and leaves outside the cabin, nursing the back of her head as she hoists herself up. “Dang, that smarts! Hordak really should have mentioned these things could multiply!” As she finishes her comment, balls of pink flesh and teeth fly at Scorpia, the buff Priest whips out her brush and quickly casts a barrier for the little monsters to smash into, their meaty bodies squishing into chunks of red and pink gore. “ _ And _ are super gross! You doing okay, Entrapta?”

Entrapta waves at Scorpia from behind Emily as the little box dragon torches a dense group of the meaty monstrosities with a geyser of green flames. “Fine and dandy! Emily’s flamethrower attachment is proving quite effective at countering these smaller Horrors.” She pulls off the black wooden case slung on her back, she unlatches the silver clasps and the case opens itself up; ten drawers of various madou tools and weapons flip out of the case as three, sturdy metal sticks grow out of the bottom and stab the dirt. Entrapta pulls a long silver cylinder with a black leather handle from one of the drawers, “Scorpia, catch!” 

The short Priest tosses the tool to Scorpia, she pushes back the wall of meatballs with a shockwave and holsters her brush, diving to the side to catch the tool as it falls short of its target. She recovers with a roll and spins around to face the swarm of little Horrors, the tool reconfiguring into a minigun with glowing green swirls etched into the stock and dragon head shaped barrels on the end. The gun revs up with a roar as the pink swarm homes in on her; she pulls the trigger and a hail of green tracer rounds tears through the cloud of Horrors, leaving them a pile of pink mush in a matter of seconds. “Phew, that was close. I wonder how Catra is doing?”

Inside the cabin Catra is backed into one of the corners by two humanoid monsters, scabbing flesh with patches of hair sloughing off as they shamble to her. She decapitates one of them and slashes the guts of the other, using it as a springboard as it doubles over to keep its guts together. She lands in the center of the room, surrounded by swarms of the little ball monsters and two humanoid flesh creatures guarding a large hive of pink, pulsating flesh with bloody, toothy mouths that release more of the little Horrors.

“Catra,” Silva chimes in, “I think we’re going to need Zero for this one.”

Catra smirks, she lifts her swords in the air and cuts two halos of light that shatter together into one large portal of silver light. The otherworldly luminance fades and Catra stands in the pale light of the moon in the silver armor of Zero. She lunges at the Hive Horror, cutting down the two Horrors in her path and sinks her blades into the Hive’s hide. The cabin shakes and creaks as the monster cries out in pain and spews a string of expletives in the demon’s language. A mouth opens up in front of Catra’s chest and sends a solid stream of little Horrors surging out of it, flinging her backwards.

She stabs her blades into the ground to stop her momentum, she looks up as the flesh balls throw themselves on the gashes she left in the Hive, melting and scabbing over the wounds, healing the monster completely. Catra clicks her tongue, “I knew this was going to be a pain in the ass. Silva, suggestions?”

“Catra, look at the top of the Horror!” Catra looks over at the spot Silva points out; earlier in the battle Scorpia fired a fireball at the exact spot, blowing a chunk off the Horror (which made it retaliate by expelling her from the cabin). Unlike the other wounds that were repaired instantly, this one was left unattended. “It doesn’t look like it can recover from fire damage. How do you feel about a barbecue?”

“I see where you’re going with this. Hope this works, gotta less than a minute to finish this bastard off.” Catra impales one of her swords in the ground to free up a hand to reach into her belt, taking out her madou lighter; she strikes the flint and a blue flame erupts from the emitter, she passes her sword over the flame and sets her silver blade alight. She kicks the other sword out of the ground and catches it on its twin, setting it ablaze as well.

She bends down and launches herself into the fray as swarms of little Horrors barrel down on her, the wall of flesh and teeth gnaw and bite at the armor. Catra flourishes her blades, sending waves of azure flames through the mass of meat, turning it into a charred husk of melted flesh on the floor. Catra swats away the Hive Horror’s fleshy tendrils, standing firm in front of the writhing mass of flesh; her blades slice through the Hive effortlessly, the wild blue flames seeping into the flesh. As the flames devour the Hive from the inside out, Catra finishes it off by stabbing her blades into the central mouth, gurgling out a whimpering cry before exploding in a plume of gore and smoke.

Catra desummons her armor and stands in the gore splattered room, the bloody chunks of meat and teeth crumbling into dust that fades into nothingness. She sheathes her blades and steps out of the hole left by Scorpia, grinning at the two Priests sitting back to back on the ground as they catch their breaths. “Good work out?”

Scorpia gives the Knight a wobbly thumbs up. “Jeez that was hard,” the buff Priest pants out, “I never want to do that again.”

“I do,” Entrapta exclaims excitedly despite her fatigue. She presses a button on Emily’s underside, making a computer screen flip out from the little robot’s flank. “The data we got from fighting the Hive Horror was amazing! If the battle was only ten minutes longer, I would have had enough data to significantly improve the Goryu’s capabilities against swarm opponents!” Entrapta tries to touch the screen but her hand falls limp at her side, “On second thought, I think we have enough data as is. Haaaa, I really want one of Hordak’s Mini Mudslides. They’re so tiny and refreshing!”

“That sounds good. Oh! What about a white russian? He makes the best white russians, and with extra cream mmmm.”

“You know,” Catra leans over the two Priests, “we could just go back to the bar and have a drink instead of sitting here the rest of the night fantasizing about Hordak’s amazing drink menu. I’d rather not stick around and run into any more surprises.” Catra offers a hand to each of the exhausted Priests, using every bit of her wiry strength to help the pair onto their feet. She gives Scorpia her shoulder to lean on while Emily holds up her creator as the group limp away from the wrecked cabin.

“So Catra,” Scorpia turns to ask the shorter woman, “how’d you feel about your first night on patrol?”

“Well,” Catra grunts under the weight of the taller woman, “I’m not dead, so I think I’ll count it as a good night. First time using the Blazing Armament though, so that was fun.”

Scorpia chuckles, “That’s the spirit! Still, wish I could have seen you fight, I bet you looked awesome! It must be so cool to be a Knight, wearing makai armor and getting to use swords and be all,” Scorpia cuts the air with an imaginary sword, “swish swish!”

“If I could give you this armor I would, I’d much rather go back to being a Priest.”

“Why though?” Scorpia asks, utterly perplexed, “I mean, you’re a Makai Knight, that’s so awesome! Why would you want to give that up?”

Catra glances up at Scorpia, “Because I don’t like how it reminds what I was born as. You know the rules, only males can be Knights. And me being one just….” Catra grits her teeth hard, “I’d rather just be a Priest. If anyone deserves to be a Knight it’s Adora. She’s better suited to the role, she’s selfless, brave, beautiful, strong, everything a Knight should be.”

Scorpia raises an eyebrow, “A Knight should be beautiful?”

Catra’s cheeks burn with a sudden blush fire, “Uhm, well I mean-”

“Looks like you’ve been caught red handed,” Silva points out, a knowing smile plastered on her face. “You can’t talk yourself out of this one.”

“Shush you!” Catra spits at the chatty necklace.

“Hey don’t stop her,” Scorpia says as she muffles Catra with her free hand, “I wanna hear more! Hey Silva, think you can tell us about this Adora girl? What’s she like?”

“I’d like to know too,” Entrapta cuts in. “As the new Garo and another female Knight, I want to know everything about her! Do you know her blood type? What about her medical history? Do you know what her marks in Priest training were?”

The group pesters Catra about Adora all the way to Bar Lupus, the sun’s first rays casting light on the waking city as the weary hunters enter the establishment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gotta love how different their first times on the job are. Anyway hope y'all enjoyed this chapter, thanks again for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so, I know I said I wouldn't start a new series, but fuuuuuuuuck this thing just took over my life. You do not know how much I love this thing, I am once again squishing two things I love into one, big, messy fic and I can't help myself! I have no idea how long this will be but I'll release it when I get some chapters done. Hope y'all have fun reading it!
> 
> Glossary of terms:  
> Makai Order: A shadow organization that protects humanity from the supernatural threat of the demon beasts, Horrors. They operate in all corners of the world, but their head quarters is the Senate where the main governing body of the Order resides.
> 
> Horrors: Demons from the Makai Realm, their sole purpose in life is to devour humans. They come into this world through Inga Gates and, depending on the type, tempt humans into possessing them or outright hunt for humans. They cannot be truly killed, only sealed away or banished to the Makai Realm
> 
> Inga Gates: Dimensional gateways created by objects or places where intense negative human emotions gather (such as an ancient battle field or the place where a murder happened).
> 
> Makai Priests: Practitioners of magic that back up the Knights in the unending war against the Horrors. They use a variety of tools to assist in their jobs, most notably the Madou Brush which focuses their magical spells. In the past the Priests defended humanity, however once the Knights came on the scene the Priests were relegated to support.
> 
> Makai Knights: The elite group of warriors that hunt and destroy Horrors. They wear magical armor and weapons in their fight against the Horrors and are incredibly strong and deadly. It has been understood that only men could become Knights, however, recent events have put that tradition under scrutiny.


End file.
